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Fuel Cells

Fuel cell devices contain no or few moving parts, work reliably, require less maintenance, and are quieter than traditional generator sets. In addition, the electrochemical reaction is clean and complete, and rarely produces harmful substances. Fuel cells are regarded as a promising energy power plant.

Material

Fuel cell is a chemical device that directly converts the chemical energy possessed by fuel into electrical energy. It is also called an electrochemical generator. It is the fourth power generation technology after hydro, thermal and atomic power. Because the fuel cell converts Gibbs free energy in the chemical energy of the fuel into electrical energy through an electrochemical reaction, it is not restricted by the Carnot cycle effect, so it has high efficiency. In addition, the fuel cell uses fuel and oxygen as raw materials; There are no mechanical transmission parts, so there is no noise pollution, and very little harmful gas is emitted. Therefore, from the perspective of energy conservation and ecological environment protection, fuel cells are the most promising power generation technology.

Fuel cell is a kind of energy conversion device. It is based on the principle of electrochemistry, that is, the principle of galvanic cell. It directly converts the chemical energy stored in fuel and oxidant into electrical energy, so the actual process is redox reaction. Fuel cell is mainly composed of four parts, namely anode, cathode, electrolyte and external circuit. Fuel gas and oxidant gas are introduced from the anode and cathode of the fuel cell, respectively. The fuel gas emits electrons on the anode, and the electrons are conducted to the cathode through an external circuit and combined with the oxidizing gas to generate ions. Under the action of an electric field, ions migrate to the anode through the electrolyte, react with the fuel gas, form a loop, and generate an electric current. At the same time, due to its own electrochemical reaction and the internal resistance of the battery, the fuel cell also generates a certain amount of heat. In addition to conducting electrons, the cathode and anode of the battery also act as catalysts for the redox reaction. When the fuel is a hydrocarbon, the anode requires higher catalytic activity. The cathodes and anodes are usually porous to facilitate the introduction of reaction gases and the discharge of products. The electrolyte plays a role of transferring ions and separating fuel gas and oxidizing gas. In order to prevent the short circuit in the battery caused by the mixture of two gases, the electrolyte is usually a dense structure.

Features

High power generation efficiency
Fuel cell power generation is not limited by the Carnot cycle. Theoretically, its power generation efficiency can reach 85% to 90%, but due to the limitations of various polarizations at work, the current energy conversion efficiency of fuel cells is about 40% to 60%. If combined heat and power is realized, the total fuel utilization rate can reach over 80%.

Low environmental pollution
When a fuel cell uses hydrogen-rich gas such as natural gas as a fuel, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by more than 40% compared to the heat engine process, which is very important to alleviate the greenhouse effect of the planet. In addition, because the fuel gas of the fuel cell must be desulfurized before the reaction, and the electricity is generated in accordance with the electrochemical principle, there is no high temperature combustion process, so almost no nitrogen and sulfur oxides are emitted, which reduces the pollution to the atmosphere.

High specific energy
The specific energy of a liquid hydrogen fuel cell is 800 times that of a nickel-cadmium battery, and the specific energy of a direct methanol fuel cell is more than 10 times higher than that of a lithium ion battery (a rechargeable battery with the highest energy density). At present, although the actual specific energy of a fuel cell is only 10% of the theoretical value, it is still much higher than the actual specific energy of a general battery.

Low noise
The fuel cell has a simple structure, few moving parts, and low noise during operation. Even near an 11MW-class fuel cell power plant, the measured noise was less than 55dB.

Wide fuel range
For fuel cells, as long as substances containing hydrogen atoms can be used as fuel, such as natural gas, petroleum, coal and other fossil products, or biogas, alcohol, methanol, etc., fuel cells are very suitable for the needs of energy diversification and can slow down the mainstream Depletion of energy.

High reliability
When the load of the fuel cell changes, it will respond quickly. Whether it is above the rated power overload operation or below the rated power operation, it can withstand and the efficiency changes little. Due to the highly reliable operation of the fuel cell, it can be used as various emergency power sources and uninterruptible power sources.

Easy to build
The fuel cell has an assembled structure, which is convenient to install and maintain, and does not require many auxiliary facilities. The design and manufacture of fuel cell power plants is quite convenient.

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Application

Alkaline fuel cell (AFC) is the earliest developed fuel cell technology and was successfully applied in the field of space flight in the 1960s. Phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) is also the first generation of fuel cell technology, which is the most mature application technology at present, and has entered commercial applications and mass production. Due to its high cost, it can only be used as a regional power station to supply power and heat on site. Molten carbonic acid fuel cell (MCFC) is the second-generation fuel cell technology, which is mainly used in equipment for power generation. The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is the third generation with its all-solid structure, higher energy efficiency, and wide adaptability to various fuel gases such as gas, natural gas, and mixed gas. The fuel cell.

Commercial fuel cells currently under development are also proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). It has high energy efficiency and energy density, small volume and weight, short cold start time, and safe and reliable operation. In addition, because the electrolyte membrane used is solid, electrolyte corrosion can be avoided. Significant progress has been made in the research and development of fuel cell technology, and the technology is gradually mature and commercialized to a certain extent. As a high-tech product of the 21st century, fuel cells have been used in the automotive industry, energy generation, shipbuilding industry, aerospace, home power supply and other industries, and have attracted the attention of governments around the world.

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